Books, Food, Etc.

“Souls begin to enter this dark night when God proceeds to lead them from the
state of beginners, proper to those who meditate on the spiritual road, and
begins to set them in that of the progressives, which is, at length, that of
the contemplatives, to the end, that passing through this state, they may
reach that of the perfect, which is the Divine union of the Soul with God.”
~ Dark Night of the Soul, St. John of the Cross

Interesting things have been happening with and in my small group. I’m still getting my head around all of it, but I think I’ve just started out on a wild ride that has, effectively, ended my “Dark Night of the Soul.” As I start to learn more about it, I’ll try to put it in words that make some sort of sense. Now when people start sentences with “God told me”, I believe that God really did tell them something, and my ears perk up.

I am also being made increasingly aware of the power of the spoken word. I mean, God called worlds into being with words. Jesus used words to heal people of their diseases, drive out demons and to calm storms. What power our own words must have! This makes the practice of “claiming” things much more understandable.

I also never realized that in the first 2 chapters of Matthew, there are 5 instances of people being instructed by God (or God’s angel) through dreams. Who knew?

For Christmas, my brother and sister-in-law gave me a book off my wish list called Armchair Mystic, Easing Into Contemplative Prayer by Mark Thibodeaux. At the time, I placed it in my “books to read” pile, but I pulled it out a few days ago and have found it very useful and timely, especially as I’m sitting in airports. I think it will fill the gap until I find a mentor in some of this new “spiritual stuff.”

And speaking of airports, every time I have been in the San Antonio airport for the past few months, I have been lusting after a cookbook called The Pastry Queen. It’s a collection of recipes from a woman who owns/operates a bakery and café in Fredericksburg. This week while waiting for a flight, my coworkers and I stopped to browse in the bookstore and I broke down and bought it. (I figured it would save me shipping costs from ordering it online, anyway.) My coworkers wanted to know if I could bring some treats to work the next day, but I told them that with the way my calendar looks for the next month or so, it would be a while.

I’m still really excited about the cookbook, though! I’ve starting reading through it, and I really enjoy the way she tells a story about where each recipe came from. As soon as I can get out to the country to buy some fresh peaches, I’m going to get cooking!

Is there anything more spiritual than using common, everyday ingredients to create something spectacular? (And then experiencing the joy of tasting and relishing something spectacular?)